MP, Shadow Work and Pensions'
Secretary, said:
“The welfare bill is too high and our country needs the
Government to bring it down. Labour opposed this time and again
in opposition and their plans today are too little too late.
“Eight months of dither and delay has cost taxpayers £7 billion
and counting. Today we heard a long list of reannoucements of
policy proposals from the last Conservative Government.
“The main difference is that thanks to Labour's Budget there are
now 100,000 more people unemployed. No surprise that one of the
few new policies is increasing Universal Credit for those not in
work.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
-
The sickness and disability benefits bill has increased
by £7 billion since Labour took office. The OBR
forecast that spending on health and disability benefits would
increase from £64.7 billion in 2023-24 to £74.9 billion in
2024-25 – an increase of £10.2 billion. This means that the
bill has risen over £7 billion in the 8 months Labour has been
in office (OBR, Economic and Fiscal Outlook, October
2024, link).
-
Labour's only new policy is to increase the standard UC
allowance for people not in work. ‘We will increase
the UC standard allowance for new and existing claims. This
would mean the single person 25+ rate of UC standard allowance
increasing by £7 per week (pw) (from £91pw in 2024-2025 to
£98pw in 2026-2027) (DWP, Open Consultation, 18 March
2025, link).
-
Labour's plan rehashes Conservative proposals.
The Conservatives had already pledged to scrap the Work
Capability Assessment, reform PIP, and invest more in
employment support (DWP, Closed consultation, 13 June
2024, link; DWP,
Consultation Outcome, 22 November 2023, link).
